Publications

Books

The sociology of unemployment, edited by Tom Boland and Ray Griffin.

Published in 2015, this edited book explores unemployment from a variety of sociological perspectives to shed light on an issue of pressing concern to both our economy and our society. Each chapter takes a different approach, commenting on everything from the subjective qualitative experience of unemployment, to the reporting of unemployment in the media, and how the breadth and depth of unemployment is transformed into a single number for statistics, metrics, and policy.

The reformation of welfare: the new faith of the labour market, by Tom Boland and Ray Griffin.

Purchase here.

Published in 2021, this book adopts an economic theology perspective to examine how it is faith – rather than economic ideas like calculability that make the labour market work. The central point made in the book is that welfare is inseparably connected to a centuries long project that has its origins in theology to reform people. This is not universal or contingent. Not all philosophies or world views believe that people can be changed or altered, but embedded within the very conceptual framework of modern welfare is the idea that we can (and must) transform ourselves for the labour market. In this reading, work is prayer, unemployment is a purgatory, jobseeking is a pilgrimage, and the labour market is a church.

The authors came to the Economy & Society Summer School in 2021 to discuss their work, read about it here or watch the video below.

Journal Articles

The Death of Unemployment and the Birth of Jobseeking: Governing a Liminal Experience. Tom Boland & Ray Griffin. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7227/IJS.23.2.3

Seeking a role: disciplining jobseekers as actors in the labour market. Tom Boland. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0950017015594097

Making sacrifices: how ungenerous gifts constitute jobseekers as scapegoats. Tom Boland & Ray Griffin. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1600910X.2016.1198920

The purgatorial ethic and the spirit of welfare. Tom Boland & Ray Griffin. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1468795X17722079

Nothingness and Time: Exploring the temporal governmentality of unemployment. Tom Boland & Ray Griffin. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/temporalites.6202

Avowing Unemployment: Confessional Jobseeker Interviews and Professional CVs. Tom Boland. DOI: https://doi.org/10.22439/fs.vi30.6256

Jobseeking as pilgrimage: trials of faith in the labour market. Tom Boland. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14735784.2021.1951796

Making sacrifices: how ungenerous gifts constitute jobseekers as scapegoats. Tom Boland & Ray Griffin. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1600910X.2016.1198920

News and Media

In addition to academic engagement, WUERC has always prioritised getting our message out to the public. Find examples of our engagement with policy makers and news media below.

2020

16/11/2020 Irish Examiner: Budget and capital spending

11/9/2020 WLRfm: WIT@50

10/8/2020 WLRfm: Covid Impacts

30/6/2020 Irish Examiner: Programme for Government

9/5/2020 Wexford People: Covid impacts

27/4/2020 South East Radio: Covic impacts

2019

31/7/2019 Irish Times: Higher Education

11/6/2019 Irish Examiner: Waterford Airport

22/4/2019 Irish Times: Higher Education

13/4/2019 Dungarvan Observer: Waterford Airport